To Let You Down
by iwantthatsaucemorty
Summary: A mysterious visitor shows up at the Smith residence. Rick is forced to deal with his mistakes, and make amends with his past.


_DING DONG._

"Morty! Could you get the door? Mom's got her hands full right now," Beth called from upstairs.

"He's a bit busy right now, sweetie," Rick's voice echoed from the garage.

"I'll get it." Summer rose from the couch and headed towards the door. "Because I'm the only one who ever does ANYTHING around here.

She opened the front door to find a girl, around her own age but slightly taller. The girl had olive skin and dark, brunette hair that spiraled down to her hips. Her green eyes were shockingly bright, to the point where they almost seemed to glow.

The girl smiled. "Hello there, you must be Summer."

"Um, yeah, I am. Who are you?"

"My name is Taravali, but I go by Tara. I'm here to see, well, I'm really here to see the whole family. May I come in?"

"Uh. Sure, I guess." Summer led Tara into the living room. "Let me go find my mom."

"I'm right here honey!" Beth entered the room looking slightly more disheveled than usual. "Sorry, I've spent all morning trying to fix the stupid air conditioning, but it looks like I'll just have to call someone."

"Can't Grandpa fix it?"

Beth rolled her eyes. "I would ask him, but he and Morty haven't left the garage all day. So, who's our guest here?"

"Beth," Tara walked up to her, looking her up and down before pulling her into an embrace. "I've waited so long to meet you."

Beth tensed for a moment before awkwardly hugging Tara back. "I'm sorry, I must have missed something."

"No, I'm sorry. The reason I'm here is… complicated." Tara backed away, taking Beth's hands in her own. "My name is Tara, and I'm your sister."

"My what now?"

"Sister. Half-sister, really."

Beth's eyes widened in realization. "Oh wow. I, uh, I guess my question is, of course, is, um. Oh God, I'm sorry. I just, when you say HALF-sister… which half?"

Before Tara could open her mouth, the answer burst in through the garage door.

"What's all thi- _*urp*_ -this about," Rick said while locking eyes with Tara. Morty trotted in behind him, doing his best not to gape at his mom's sister.

"Dad, she say's- "

"Beth, I think I'd like to be the one to tell him, if that's alright."

Rick's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Tell me what?"

Tara walked up to him, beaming. "Rick Sanchez. I've waited years to meet you. Although I'm assuming you hear those words a lot, given your track record. My name is Taravali."

"No last name? Y-you seem to know mine."

"Where I come from there is no need for such individualization."

"So w-what are you? You obviously aren't human."

Tara laughed. "You're right. Not entirely human, anyways. But I do happen to be entirely your daughter."

"Damn it," Morty muttered under his breath.

"Daughter? Yeah right. W-w-what is this? Who sent you?"

Tara raised an eyebrow. "Really? After all the time you spent, ahem, _visiting_ other planets and dimensions, it's an absurd thought that you might have left some DNA behind?"

"Yes. Completely absurd and also im- _*urp*_ -possible. I'm the smartest man in the universe and YOU think I'm dumb enough to risk leaving any, as you put it, DNA behind?"

"Well, obviously, you are dumb enough," she snapped.

Rick's brow lowered in suspicion. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

"Oh shit."

"'Oh shit?' What the hell, Dad!" Beth yelled. "You went and got some other woman pregnant _a few months_ after leaving Mom?"

"Jesus, Beth we don't even know if sh-she's telling the truth!"

"Oh c'mon Grandpa, this is such a you thing to do," said Summer, without looking up from her phone.

"Shut up, Summer. Morty, alien girl, follow _*uurp*_ me," Rick said as he turned towards the garage. "We'll do a simple DNA test and then we can both go back to our very separate lives."

"What gave away my bi-species status?"

"I've seen eyes like yours before," Rick replied in his usual, unimpressed tone. "I'm assuming you're from planet Erratis?"

"You'd assume right. And _I_ assume you can guess who my mother is?"

Rick sat down at his workbench. "I _could_ , but what you're suggesting is biologically impossible. Which suggests to _me_ that you're a liar."

"Well, we'll just have to see what the DNA test- OW!" Rick plucked a strand of Tara's hair and placed it gently onto a glowing disk. The disk changed from blue to green before projecting words onto the garage wall:

FATHER: RICK SANCHEZ

MOTHER: COMPUTING…

COMPUTING…

COMPUTING…

NO BIOLOGICAL MATCH FOUND.

Tara put her hands on her hips and smirked. "Nice to meet you, Dad."

Rick narrowed his eyes and took a swig from his flask. _Impossible._ There was no way she could be his daughter, or anyone's daughter for that matter. "Ok, so w-what do you want?"

Tara frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"You waited nineteen years to seek me out, a-a-am I supposed to think you're here to bond? You obviously want something from me."

"I- "

"Dad! Could you, could you come to the kitchen for a moment?" Beth yelled.

"Coming sweetie," Rick replied as he exited the garage, leaving Morty and Tara alone together.

"He's right, you know." Tara had her head down, speaking to the floor. "I'm not just here for a family visit."

"Oh uhh, I mean, R-rick isn't the most altruistic guy, either."

"You're Morty, correct?"

Morty shifted in his seat. "Haha yeah, th-that's me." He could tell Tara was upset. Her expression was longing, a look Morty recognized from his mother. "Look, Tara. Rick isn't a bad guy, but h-he's not really the most emotional. Right now he has his guard up against you, and h-he's going to be a dick until he feels like he can trust you. W-which will take a while. Trust me, no one knows Rick better than I do."

Tara chuckled. "It does sound like you know him pretty damn well. Makes sense."

"It does?"

"I know about your mother, Morty. How Rick left her. He didn't stick around for her, he didn't stick around for Beth, and I have a feeling he won't stick around for me." She gave Morty a pained smile. "He stayed here for you, Morty. He wanted a son."

"Aw, jeez, I-I mean, I don't see it that way."

"Well, _something_ about you must be special if it made a guy like Rick stay."

Back in the kitchen, Beth and Rick leaned against the counter.

"Dad, I know you're skeptical of this whole thing, but when she hugged me… I can't really explain it. I know that she's my sister."

"She's-she's not even _*burp*_ human, Beth. How do you know she's not using some sort of alien mind-control on you?"

"How do you know that she is?" Beth shouted. "The one thing I do know is that you'll do whatever it takes to get out of connecting with this girl. You don't have a single paternal bone in your body!"

"Yeah, you're right. I'm-I'm not sure why this is such a surprise for you, considering my relationship with my human daughter who I've known since birth."

Beth took a step back, visibly hurt by her father's words. She put her head in her hands and took a deep breath before looking Rick in the eyes. "Dad, you fucked up with me. You will never have the chance to form a real father-daughter connection with me. And I've made peace with that, I really have. But this right here is your second chance. Tara isn't a child but she's still young. If she is your daughter, you can't let that go."

Rick broke eye contact and looked towards the floor. "Beth," he started.

"Don't apologize to me," Beth snapped. "If you want me to forgive you, it starts with her."

" _RRRRRICK!"_ Morty yelled from the garage. " _RICK HELP!"_ A giant, metallic ripping sound followed Morty's cries. Beth and Rick sprinted to the garage, to find that the roof had been torn clean off. Morty sat shaking on the ground, small scrapes covering his body.

Beth knelt next to him. "Sweetie, are you ok? What happened?"

"W-w-w-we w-were talking and- "

"Morty," interrupted Rick. "Where's Tara?"

Morty looked up at Rick. "It-it took her, Rick."

"It?"

"Unity."


End file.
